| editor | Ben Sowter (supervisor) |
|---|---|
| Authors Staff | Craig O'Callaghan |
| categories | Higher education |
| frequency | annual |
| publisher | Quacquarelli Symonds Limited |
| First problem | 2004 (in partnership with) 2010 (on its own)
|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| language | English |
| Website | www.topuniversities.com |
QS World University Rankings is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). Formerly known as Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings, the publisher collaborated with Times Higher Education(THE) printed its international league tables from 2004 to 2009 before they began announcing their own versions. QS then decided to continue using existing techniques for now Times Higher Education adopted a new methodology to create their rankings.
The QS system currently includes global overall and subject rankings (ranking the world's top universities for 48 different subjects and five component department areas), along with five independent regional tables (Asia, Latin America, Emerging Europe and Central Asia, Arab region and BRICS).
As the only international ranking to receive International Ranking Expert Group (IREG) approval, the QS rankings are regarded as one of the three most widely read university rankings in the world, along with academic ranking of world universities And Times Higher Education World University Rankings. However, it has been criticized for its over-reliance on subjective measures and reputation surveys, which tend to fluctuate over the years. The concern also exists with regard to the global consistency and integrity of the data used to obtain QS rating results.
story
The perceived need for an international ranking of UK universities for purposes was highlighted in December 2003 in Richard Lambert's review of university and industry collaboration in the UK for the Treasury, the UK Ministry of Finance. Among his recommendations were world university rankings, which Lambert said would help the UK assess the global standing of its universities.
The idea of the rating was credited in the book by Ben Wildavsky, in Big Brain Race: How Global Universities are Reshaping the World, to the then editor Times Higher Education(), John O'Leary . Decided to cooperate with the training and quarry councils of the company Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) to supply the data, appointing Martin Ince, a former deputy editor and later a contractor, to manage the project.
Between 2004 and 2009, QS produced the rankings in partnership with. In 2009 they announced that they would produce their own ratings, in Times Higher Education World University Rankings , in partnership with Thomson Reuters . It cited the alleged weakness of the original rankings methodology, as well as perceived favoritism in existing science methodology over humanities scholars, as two of the main reasons for the decision to split with QS.
QS has retained the intellectual property in the previous rankings and the methodologies used to compile them and continues to produce rankings based on this methodology, which are now called the QS World University Rankings.
Created a new methodology with Thomson Reuters and published the first Times Higher Education World University Rankings in September 2010.
Global rankings
Overall
methodology
| Indicator | weighting | development |
|---|---|---|
| Academic peer review | Based on internal global academic survey | |
| Faculty/student ratio | Measuring Teaching Commitment | |
| Faculty Citation | Measuring Impact Research | |
| employer reputation | Based on a survey of graduate employers | |
| International student attitude | Measuring student community diversity | |
| International staff attitude | Measuring Faculty Diversity |
QS publishes the ranking results in the world media and has entered into partnerships with a number of outlets including The Guardian in the United Kingdom, and Joseon Ilbo in Korea. The first rankings, obtained by QS independently of and using QS's consistent and original methodology, were released on 8 September 2010, with the second appearing on 6 September 2011.
Academic peer review
This is the most controversial part of the methodology. Using a combination of purchased mailing lists and applications and suggestions, this survey asks active academics around the world about the top universities in their specialized fields. QS published the title of the work and the geographic distribution of participants.
The 2017/18 rankings received responses from 75,015 people from over 140 countries for its academic reputation score, including votes from the previous five years rolled forward provided there was no more recent information available from the same person. Participants can nominate up to 30 universities, but cannot vote for their own. They tend to assign a median of around 20, which means this study includes over 500,000 data points. The average respondent has 20.4 years of academic experience, while 81% of respondents have more than ten years of experience in academia.
In 2004, when rankings first appeared, academic peer review accounted for half of a university's possible score. In 2005, its share was reduced to 40 percent due to the introduction of the employer reputation survey.
Faculty Ratio
This figure is 20 percent of the university’s possible score in the ranking. This is a classic measure used in various rating systems as a proxy for teaching commitment, but QS has admitted it is less than satisfactory.
Faculty Citation
Published research citations are one of the most widely used materials for national and global university rankings. QS World University Rankings used citations from Thomson (now Thomson Reuters) data from 2004 to 2007, and has since used data from Scopus, part of Elsevier. The total number of citations over a period of five years is divided by the number of scientists at the university to obtain a score for this measure, which accounts for 20 percent of the university's possible ranking score.
QS explained that it uses this approach rather than the paper citations preferred by other systems, as it reduces the impact of biomedical science on the big picture - bio-medicine has a ferocious "publish or perish" culture. Instead, QS attempts to measure the research density of active employees at each institution. But questions still remain about the use of citations in ranking systems, particularly the fact that the arts and humanities generate relatively few citations.
However, since 2015, QS has made methodological improvements designed to eliminate the advantage of institutes specializing in the field. natural sciences and medicine previously received. This improvement is called faculty area normalization, and also ensures that an institution's citation count in each of QS's five key faculty areas is weighted by 20% of the final citation score.
QS conceded that there were some data collection errors regarding faculty references in previous years' rankings.
One interesting question This is the difference between Scopus and Thomson Reuters databases. For large universities in the world, the two systems capture more or less the same publications and citations. For less mainstream institutions, Scopus has more non- English language and smaller circulation logs in its database. But because papers there are not as heavily cited, this may also mean less citation per paper for the universities that publish in them. The field has been criticized for undermining universities that do not use English as their primary language. Citing and publishing in a language other than English is more difficult to come across. English is the most internationalized language and therefore also the most widely cited.
employer review
This portion of the ranking is obtained in a similar manner to the Academic Peer Review, except that it is sampled by recruiters who hire graduates on a global or significant national scale. The numbers are smaller - 40,455 responses from more than 130 countries in the 2016 Rankings - and are used to produce 10 percent of any university's possible points. This survey was introduced in 2005 in the hope that employers would track graduate quality, making it a barometer of teaching quality, a notoriously problematic thing to measure. The university stood here of particular interest to potential students, and recognizing this was the impetus behind the inaugural QS graduate employability ranking, published in November 2015.
International orientation
The final ten percent of a university's possible score is derived from measures aimed at capturing their internationalism: five percent from their percentage of international students, and another five percent from their percentage of international staff. This is of interest partly because it shows whether a university is making an effort to be global, but also because it tells us whether it is taken seriously enough by students and academics around the world that they want to be there.
reception
In September 2015, both The Guardian and The Daily Mail cited the QS World University Rankings as "the most authoritative of its kind". In 2016, Ben Sowter, head of research at the QS Intelligence Unit, was ranked 40th in Wonkhe's 2016 Education Power Higher List. The list listed what the organization considered to be the 50 most influential figures in the UK higher education.
Several universities in the UK and Asia Pacific commented positively on the rankings. New Zealand's Massey University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Judith Kinnear, says the Times Higher Education-QS ranking is "a remarkable external endorsement of several attributes of universities, including the quality of its scientific research, training of scientific personnel, training and employment." She said rankings are the true measure of a university's ability to fly high internationally: "The Times Higher Education rankings provide a far more sophisticated, reliable and well-crafted measure of international and national rankings than any of the New Zealand Performance Based Research Foundation (PBRF) rankings." ) measure or ratings of Shanghai." In September 2012, a British newspaper The Independent described the QS World University Rankings as "widely recognized in higher education as the most reliable international rankings".
Angel Calderon, Chief Advisor for Planning and Research at RMIT University and a member of the QS Advisory Board, spoke positively about the QS University Rankings for Latin America, stating that "The QS Latin America University Rankings have become the annual international benchmark universities use to determine their relative position in the region" . He also stated that the 2016/17 edition of this ranking showed improved stability.
Criticisms
Some commenters expressed concerns about the use and misuse of survey data. However, the QS Intelligence Unit, which was responsible for compiling the rankings, states that the extent of the sample size used for their research means that they are now "virtually impossible to manipulate, and very difficult for institutions to 'game'". They also claim that "more than 62,000 academic respondents contributed to our 2013 academic results, four times as many as in 2010. Independent scientific reviews have confirmed these results to be more than 99% reliable." In addition, since 2013, the number of respondents to the QS Academic Reputation Survey has increased once again. Their study currently draws on approximately 75,000 scientific peer reviews, making it "by far the world's largest aggregation of sentiment in this [global academic] community."
The QS World University Rankings have been criticized by many for placing too much emphasis on peer review, which receives 40 percent of the overall score. Some people expressed concern about the way the review was carried out. In a report, Peter Wills from the University of Auckland wrote about Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings:
But we also note that this study establishes its rankings by asking university employees, even offering financial incentives to participate (Appendix II). Staff probably believe that it is in their best interest to rank their own institution higher than others. This means that the results of the survey and any visible changes in the ranking are highly questionable, and that a high ranking has no real intrinsic value in any case. We are categorically against evaluating a university based on the results of such PR competitions.
However, QS claim that no survey participant, academic or employer, is offered a financial incentive to respond, while non-academics will not be able to vote for their own institution. This makes this criticism particularly invalid, since it is based on two incorrect premises: (1) that scientists are currently financially incentives for participation, and (2) that conflicts of interest are created by scientists being able to vote for their own institution.
Academics have previously criticized the use of the citation database, arguing that it underestimates the institutions that excel in the social sciences. Ian Diamond, former chief executive of the Economic and Social Research Council and now vice-chancellor of the University of Aberdeen and a member of the editorial board, writes Times Higher Education in 2007, saying:
The use of a citation database should have an impact because such databases do not have as broad a coverage of the social sciences (or arts and humanities) as the natural sciences. Thus, the low standing of the London School of Economics, caused primarily by its citation assessment, is the result not of the output of an outstanding institution, but of the database, and the fact that LSE does not have a large natural science database to counterbalance it.
However, in 2015, QS's implementation of faculty area normalization ensured that QS rankings no longer assigned inappropriate advantage or disadvantage to any institution, based on their specific subject specializations. Accordingly, the London School of Economics rose from 71 in 2014 to 35 in 2015 and 37 in 2016.
These rankings use some of the same criteria as the world rankings, but there are changed weights and new criteria. One addition is the criteria for incoming and outgoing exchange students. Accordingly, the performance of Asian institutions in QS World University Rankings And QS Asian University Rankings released in the same academic year, differ from each other.
| institution | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National University of Singapore | 10 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| University of Hong Kong | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| Nanyang Technological University | 14 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Tsinghua University | 15 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 3 |
| Peking University | 10 | 12 | 13 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 5 |
| Fudan University | 26 | 24 | 21 | 19 | 23 | 22 | 16 | 11 | 7 | 6 |
| Hong Kong University of Science and Technology | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| KAIST | 7 | 13 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 8 |
| Chinese University of Hong Kong | 2 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 9 |
| Seoul National University | 8 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 10 |
Latin America
IN QS Latin American University Rankings or QS University Rankings: Latin America were started in 2011 they use academic opinion (30%), employer opinion (20%), publications per faculty member, citations per paper, postdoctoral fellow, faculty/student ratio, and web visibility (10 percent each) as measures .
2016/17 edition of QS World University Rankings: Latin America ranks top 300 universities in the region. Universidade São Paulo has maintained its status as the region's top university.
| institution | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pontifical Catholic University of Chile | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| Universidade Estadual de Campinas | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Universidade de Sao Paulo | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico City | 6 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 4 |
| Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey | 7 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 5 |
| Universidad de Chile | 5 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 6 |
| Federal University of Rio de Janeiro | 8 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 7 |
| Universidad de los Andes | 4 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| Universidad de Buenos Aires | 12 | 19 | 15 | 11 | 9 |
| Universidade Estadual de Sao Paulo | 11 | 9 | 8 | 12 | 10 |
Africa
The number of universities in Africa increased by 115 percent from 2000 to 2010, and enrollment more than doubled from 2.3 million to 5.2 million students, according to UNESCO. However, only one African university was among the world's top 100 to judge the 2016 World University Rankings.
BRICS
This ranking set takes 8 indicators to select the top 100 highest educational institutions in the BRICS countries. Institutions in , Macau and Taiwan are not included here.
| institution | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
School graduates always face the difficult task of deciding on their future place of study. The choice of a university can play a key role in a future career, so applicants and their parents always approach such a significant issue with special attention. QS World University Rankings were created to help them. This annual ranking of universities and institutions makes it possible to find out which educational institutions offer the best educational conditions in 42 specialties. In addition to filters by topic, the applicant can also specify a specific region or a specific country.
Methodology QS World University Rankings
- Academic reputation. Respondents involved in this or related fields, are asked to name up to 10 domestic and 30 international educational institutions that they consider suitable for scientific activity. In 2016, over 76,000 people involved in higher education took part in the survey
- Employer reputation. Employers are asked to name 10 domestic and 30 international universities whose graduates are best suited to work in this organization. The 2016 data is based on a survey of over 44,000 employers.
- Citation index. A scientometric indicator of the number of references to scientific works of university teachers.
- Hirsch index. An indicator showing the ratio of the number of publications to the level of their citations. At the moment, it is believed that the H-index is the most objective indicator of significance and scientific productivity.
It is worth mentioning separately that different adjustment factors were applied for different academic fields. Thus, for medical specialties, where publication activity is of high importance, the Citation Index and the Hirsch Index accounted for 25% of the total result of a particular university. For history departments - 15%. And in the field of art and design, where the number scientific works very little, these factors were not taken into account at all.
The World's Best Universities for Arts and Humanities
In the arts and humanities, the QS World University Rankings offer data on the following subjects: Archaeology, Architecture, Art and Design, English Language and Literature, History, Linguistics, Modern Languages, Theatre, Philosophy. We publish the top 10 world universities in the most popular specialties - “architecture” and “art and design”.
| Position | Architecture | Art and design |
| 1 | Royal College of Art (UK) | |
| 2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA) | |
| 3 | Rhode Island School of Design (USA) | |
| 4 | Delft University of Technology (Netherlands) | Parsons School of Design at The New School (USA) |
| 5 | Harvard University (USA) | University of the Arts London (UK) |
| 6 | Pratt Institute (USA) | |
| 7 | ETH Zurich (Switzerland) | School of the Art Institute of Chicago (USA) |
| 8 | Tsinghua University (China) | Stanford University (USA) |
| 9 | (Singapore) | Yale University (USA) |
| 10 | Manchester School of Architecture (USA) | Politecnico di Milano (Italy) |
Top Universities in the World for Engineering and Technology
In the field of engineering and technical sciences, the QS World University Rankings offers data for the following specialties: chemical engineering, civil and industrial engineering, computer technology, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and aircraft engineering, mining. We publish the top 10 universities for IT specialization.
| Position | Computer technology |
| 1 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA) |
| 2 | Stanford University (USA) |
| 3 | |
| 4 | Harvard University (USA) |
| 5 | Carnegie Mellon University (USA) |
| 6 | University of Cambridge (UK) |
| 7 | University of California, Berkeley (USA) |
| 8 | ETH Zurich (Switzerland) |
| 9 | National University of Singapore (Singapore) |
| 10 | Princeton University (USA) |
The best universities in the world in the field of natural sciences and medicine
In the field of science and medicine, the QS World University Rankings offers data on the following specialties: agriculture and forestry, biology, dentistry, medicine, nursing, pharmacy and pharmacology, psychology, veterinary medicine. We publish the top 10 world universities in the most popular specialties - dentistry and medicine.
| Position | Dentistry | Medicine |
| 1 | The University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong) | Harvard University (USA) |
| 2 | University of Michigan (USA) | University of Oxford (UK) |
| 3 | University of Cambridge (UK) | |
| 4 | King's College London, UK | Stanford University (USA) |
| 5 | University of Gothenburg (Sweden) | Johns Hopkins University (USA) |
| 6 | Tokyo Medical and Dental University (Japan) | University of California, Los Angeles(USA) |
| 7 | KU Leuven (Belgium) | University of California, San Francisco (USA) |
| 8 | UCL (University College London) (UK) | Yale University (USA) |
| 9 | Universidade de São Paulo (Brazil) | University College London (UK) |
| 10 | New York University (USA) | Karolinska Institutet (Sweden) |
The world's best universities in the field of natural sciences
In the field of natural sciences, the QS World University Rankings offers data on the following specialties: physics and astronomy, mathematics, science environment, geology and oceanography, chemistry, materials science, geography. We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the top 10 strongest universities in the field of chemistry.
| Position | Chemistry |
| 1 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA) |
| 2 | University of California, Berkeley (USA) |
| 3 | University of Cambridge (UK) |
| 4 | Harvard University (USA) |
| 5 | Stanford University (USA) |
| 6 | University of Oxford (UK) |
| 7 | National University of Singapore (Singapore) |
| 8 | The University of Tokyo (Japan) |
| 9 | California Institute of Technology (USA) |
| 10 | ETH Zurich (Switzerland) |
Best Universities in the World for Social Sciences and Management
In the field of social sciences and management, the QS World University Rankings offers data on the following specialties: accounting and finance, anthropology, business and management, sociology, media, political science, pedagogy, social development, statistics, economics, jurisprudence, social policy. We propose to familiarize yourself with the top 10 universities in the areas of “accounting and finance” and “business and management”.
| Position | Accounting and finance | Business and management |
| 1 | Harvard University (USA) | Harvard University (USA) |
| 2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA) | |
| 3 | Stanford University (USA) | INSEAD (France) |
| 4 | London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) (UK) | Stanford University (USA) |
| 5 | University of Oxford (UK) | |
| 6 | University of Chicago (USA) | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA) |
| 7 | University of Cambridge (UK) | University of Cambridge (UK) |
| 8 | University of Pennsylvania (USA) | University of Oxford (UK) |
| 9 | London Business School (UK) | London School of Economics and Political Science (UK) |
| 10 | University of California, Berkeley (USA) | Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi (Italy) |
The results of the QS World University Rankings, which represent the world's leading universities, have become known. MSU again became the best in Russia, maintaining last year's position - 108th place in the world. In total, 3,800 universities participated in the ranking, of which 891 were included in the list.
According to MSU Rector Viktor Sadovnichy, MSU has once again confirmed its leading position in the face of increased competition, especially from universities in the Asian region.
“In 2016, we traditionally improved our positions in the categories of “opinions of experts from the academic environment” (Academic Reputation) and “university reputation among employers” (Employer reputation), which are the main indicators of the university’s work; it is these criteria that determine the quality of teaching at the university and the level conducting scientific research. Also this year we successfully conducted an admissions campaign to attract foreign students, which is a good foundation for the future,” commented MSU Rector Viktor Sadovnichy.
In recent years, our universities have been improving their positions in international rankings, which contributes to their promotion in the global market of educational services and attracts foreign students. The latest QS subject rankings feature eight of our universities in the top 100. The leader was Moscow State University, which was in the top 100 in 12 regions. He received the highest place - 17th - in the field of Linguistics. In second place is St. Petersburg State University, which is represented by two subjects. IN full version 17 of our universities were included in the subject rankings. MEPhI, Novosibirsk State University, Russian State University of Oil and Gas named after. Gubkina. For this QS subject ranking, 4,226 educational institutions around the world were assessed, and a total of 945 universities were included. More than 113 million citations have been analyzed, and the support of about 15,530 curricula has been verified.
“Even 5 years ago, few people in our universities knew about the H-index, impact factor, Scopus and Web of Science databases, world university rankings QS, THE and ARWU. Today everyone knows,” explained Tomsk Polytechnic Rector Petr Chubik.
As for another prestigious international ranking, THE, prepared by the British magazine Times Higher Education, five of our universities are included in the list of the 200 best universities in Europe. This is Moscow State University (it has 79th place), St. Petersburg Poly technical university Peter the Great (113), Tomsk Polytechnic University (136), Kazan federal university(152), MEPhI (164).
In the first positions in all international rankings are Stanford, Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge universities, and the Massachusetts University of Technology.
Our universities in the QS Global University Rankings:
258 – St. Petersburg State University
291 – Novosibirsk State University
306 – MSTU im. Bauman
350 - MGIMO (U) Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation
350 – MIPT
377 – Tomsk State University
400 – Tomsk Polytechnic
401-410 – MEPhI
411-420 – HSE
411-420 – St. Petersburg Polytechnic
501-550 - Kazan (Volga region) Federal University
551-600 - Far Eastern Federal University
551-600 - Saratovsky state university
551-600 - Southern Federal University
601-650 - NUST "MISiS"
601-650 - RUDN University
601-650 - Ural Federal University
701+ - Lobachevsky University of Nizhny Novgorod
701+ - Novosibirsk Polytechnic
701+ - Plekhanov Russian University of Economics
701+ - Voronezh State University
The list of the 1000 best universities in the world includes universities involved in projects of the National technology initiative
The British company Quacquarelli Symonds has published the QS World University Rankings. This year, 25 Russian universities are represented in the ranking, which includes 1,000 educational institutions.
Moscow State University remains the leader of Russian higher education. Lomonosov, which rose six positions compared to last year and took 84th place. In second place among Russian universities is NSU (231st position), participating in the program for increasing the competitiveness of leading universities among the world's leading research and educational centers (“project 5-100”).
As noted on the “Project 5-100” website, out of 25 Russian universities represented in the ranking this year, 16 are participants in the “Project 5-100”. The top 500 includes 16 universities from Russia, while 12 are participants in the “5-100 project”.
In addition to Novosibirsk State University, which rose by 13 positions and strengthened its position in the top 300, this ranking range also included another “Project 5-100” university, Tomsk State University (268th position).
Russian universities showed positive dynamics in the top 400. Compared to last year, their number increased from 10 to 13. MIPT (302nd position) managed to come close to the top 300, rising 10 positions, followed by the Higher School of Economics (322nd position) and National Research Nuclear University MEPhI (329- I position).
For the first time this year in the top 400 best universities world included such universities - participants in the Project as UrFU (364th position), KFU (392nd position) and RUDN University (392nd position). ITMO University made a significant leap towards the higher ranking ranges, taking 436th place in the ranking table, moving up more than 70 points. The top 500 also includes Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, which includes the Competence Center of the National Technology Initiative in the area of “New Production Technologies” (439th position) and NUST MISIS (451st position).
Positive dynamics in the top 300, top 400, top 500 speaks of the potential of Russian universities and their increasing competitiveness, since the higher the rating range, the more difficult it is to move up in it.
“It is clear from this year's data that international students are responding warmly to the initiatives of the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education and the continued creation of a dynamic multinational community is an important factor highlighting the improvement in the situation in Russia this year. However, it should be noted that the low student-to-faculty ratio is another key success factor in Russia. Students value access to their professors, and the large faculty-to-student ratio makes the university attractive. Ensuring a high ratio of teachers to students is crucial for Russia’s further progress,” said Ben Souther, head of the QS Intelligence Unit research department.
The main purpose of the QS World University Rankings is to help students choose leading universities around the world. When compiling the QS World University Rankings, six indicators are taken into account: academic credibility, faculty to student ratio, reputation among employers, citation index, share foreign teachers and students.
Along with the Shanghai Ranking (Academic Ranking of World Universities - ARWU) and the THE ranking of world universities (Times Higher Education World University Rankings), QS is a ranking that the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation focuses on when assessing the success of universities.
According to the indicator “Share of international students” in this year’s ranking, 19 out of 25 Russian universities improved their results - in total, the number of foreign students increased by 40% between 2013 and 2018. In addition, seven of the world's top 50 universities in terms of faculty-to-student ratio are Russian.
84
Moscow State University named after M.V. took a place in the overall QS World University Rankings. Lomonosov, acting as a partner of the Center for Quantum Technologies;
231
Novosibirsk State University;
234
St. Petersburg State University;
274
Tomsk State University;
284
Moscow State Technical University named after N.E. Bauman;
302
Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT);
322
National research university « graduate School economics";
329
National Research Nuclear University "MEPhI";
364
Ural Federal University;
366
Moscow state institute international relations - MGIMO University;
387
Tomsk Polytechnic University;
392
Kazan Federal University;
392
Peoples' Friendship University of Russia;
436
St. Petersburg National Research University information technology mechanics and optics - ITMO University;
439
Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, which includes the Competence Center of the National Technology Initiative in the direction of “New Production Technologies”;
451
National Research Technological University "MISiS", which created the Center for Quantum Communications of the National Technology Initiative;
521-530
Saratov State University;
531-540
Far Eastern Federal University, which includes the NTI Center in the direction of “Neurotechnologies, virtual and augmented reality technologies”;
541-550
Southern Federal University;
601-650
Nizhny Novgorod State University;
651-700
Samara National Research University;
751-800
Russian Economic University named after G.V. Plekhanov;
801-1000
Novosibirsk State Technical University;
801-1000
South Ural State University;
801-1000
Voronezh State University.
The international QS ranking has been published since 2004, and initially experts from the British publication Times Higher Education (THE) participated in the preparation of its methodology. Since 2010, the analytical company Quacquarelli Symonds Ltd. began publishing the rating independently. When compiling the rating, statistical information from the Scopus bibliometric database is taken into account.
Place* | University | Country |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology | USA | |
| 2 | Stanford | USA |
| 3 | USA | |
| 4 | Caltech | USA |
| 5 | Cambridge | United Kingdom |
| 6 | United Kingdom | |
| 7 | University College London | United Kingdom |
| 8 | Imperial College London | United Kingdom |
| 9 | University of Chicago | USA |
| 10 | Swiss Federal Institute of Technology | Switzerland |
Compared to the previous year, the position of universities remained virtually unchanged: the California Institute of Technology moved up one position, while Cambridge, on the contrary, moved down; Imperial College London and the University of Chicago were ranked 9th and 10th in last year's rankings, respectively, while the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology dropped two positions.
Among the 300 best universities are also St. Petersburg State University (240th place), Novosibirsk State University (250th place) and MSTU. Bauman (291st place). According to QS, the citation index at NSU, unlike other domestic universities, has also increased.
MSTU named after N.E. Bauman
National Research Nuclear University "MEPhI"
SPbPU Peter the Great
NUST MISIS
NI SSU named after N.G. Chernyshevsky
ITMO University
REU named after G.V. Plekhanov
SNIU named after S.P. Queen
The rating methodology has undergone minor changes this year. Zoya Zaitseva commented: “Firstly, the ratio of the voting weights of domestic and international employers has changed. Previously it was 30/70, from this year the weight will be equal, 50/50. This is a serious plus for Russian universities, which have finally begun to work much more intensively with their contacts in companies.”
In addition, the analysis of the Scopus database has changed. “Previously, we looked at a five-year window covering quotes from the year the ranking was published,” explains Zaitseva. “However, after lengthy discussions with our Academic Council, it was decided to extend the window to six years. So, this year we analyzed citations from 2011 to 2016, referring to articles published between 2011 and 2015. It increases significance last year in the analysis and gives us slightly more accurate data.”
Experts from Quacquarelli Symonds claim that competent planning of the activities of Russian universities, aimed at improving their reputation, certainly helped them rise in the rankings. “The achievements of Russian universities this year indicate that careful, long-term strategic planning, targeted and consistent investment, and a commitment to internationalization will ultimately lead to tangible positive changes in the rankings of Russian universities. Despite the fact that Russian universities continue to be hampered by the relatively low results of bibliometric indicators, behind this year’s strong results are the desire of Russian universities to strengthen their positions in the international arena and the implementation of an international strategy as an integral part of the university’s development,” said Ben Souther, head of the department QS Intelligence Unit research.
Sources
Tomsk Polytechnic University (tpu.ru), 06/08/2017
Department of Education of the Novosibirsk Region (minobr.nso.ru), 06/08/2017
REF RF (referatwork.ru), 06/08/2017
Russia for everyone (rus.rus4all.ru), 06/08/2017
Pulse of the Planet 24/7 (puls-planety247.ru), 06/08/2017
News. Economics (vestifinance.ru), 06/08/2017
National News Service (nsn.fm), 06/08/2017
Medical Bulletin (medvestnik.ru), 06/08/2017
Novosibirsk local history portal (kraeved.ngonb.ru), 06/13/2017